What is Mindful Self-Compassion?
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an 8-week evidenced-based mindfulness course aimed to cultivate an attitude of kindness and understanding toward oneself during moments of suffering, failure, or perceived inadequacy.
What Can I Learn in a Mindful Self-Compassion Course?
Mindful Self-Compassion offers a framework for understanding the benefits of integrating mindfulness with self-compassion. Researched and proven tools and practicers for daily life are provided that lead to better mental health and a healthier relationship with oneself.
What are the Benefits of a Mindful Self-Compassion?
While each student's experience is unique, the published research has shown changes like these are common.
Reduced rumination and self-criticism • Enhanced coping skills • Greater self-acceptance • Healthier, more satisfying relationships • Increased compassion • Increased life satisfaction, happiness, and overall well-being • Reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression • Improved emotional resilience
Orientation and 8 weekly 2 1/2 hour sessions with a 3 hour Mini-Retreat on a Saturday or Sunday.
Tuition: Pay-It-Forward: $765, Standard: $595, Scholarship: $390.
Course pricing is set to allow for generosity while meeting individuals needs. We encourage you to pay as much as you can afford and we appreciate your care and thoughtfulness when deciding.
Payment plans are available at checkout. See our refund policy.
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Continuing Education Credits are available for this course.
Upcoming Mindful Self-Compassion Course
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“Participating in the MSC class introduced me to a gentle openhearted way of actively engaging with living embodied self-compassion and Loving Kindness within a safe community. Taking the MSC course gave me skills that deepened my practice in a gentle and healing way through the beauty of community. The MSC experience and group work accountability supported my healing process. I am in a much better place now with confidence. I am forever grateful for what I have gained.”
R.B., Student
Mindful Self-Compassion
“The instructor was compassionate, knowledgeable, and skilled at understanding the needs of students. The course was amazing! I look forward to taking more.”
Student
Mindful Self-Compassion
“I was surprised at the many opportunities I have found to practice self compassion. I believe I was not fully aware of the times in which I was critical of myself and even fearful. The tools I have learned in class have helped identify those moments, and respond tenderly to myself.”
S.A.S., Student
Mindful Self-Compassion
Weekly Overview of APA Credits
Important Note on CE credits: Students are expected and required to attend 100% of CE programming. MHI and its staff strictly monitor attendance and do not award variable credit for partial attendance.
Why is Mindful Self-Compassion Valuable for Psychologists?
For psychologists and other professionals, the wide applicability and adaptability of this course demonstrates how mindfulness can be a versatile tool for clinicians working with diverse populations. However, effectively integrating mindfulness into the therapeutic space requires clinicians to prioritize their own personal practice. Studies suggest that mindfulness training significantly strengthens the therapeutic alliance, the cornerstone of effective therapy, in several key ways, including cultivating present-moment awareness, improving self-awareness, enhancing emotional regulation, boosting empathy and compassion, deepening active listening skills.
| Date | Class | CE Credits |
| Orientation | Welcome, course aims, and introduction to mindfulness | 0 hours |
| Week 1 | Practicing mindfulness | 2.5 hours |
| Week 2 | Practicing kindness | 2.5 hours |
| Week 3 | Discovering your compassionate voices | 2.5 hours |
| Week 4 | Living deeply | 2.5 hours |
| Week 5 | Dealing with difficult emotions or physical pain | 2.5 hours |
| Mini Retreat | Intensive mindfulness practice to effectively establish skills for use beyond course completion | 3 hours |
| Week 6 | Meeting difficult emotions | 2.5 hours |
| Week 7 | Exploring challenging relationships | 2.5 hours |
| Week 8 | Embracing your life | 2.5 hours |
What is Mindful Self-Compassion?
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an 8-week evidenced-based mindfulness developed by Christopher Germer, PhD and Kristin Neff, PhD. MSC aims to cultivate an attitude of kindness and understanding toward oneself during moments of suffering, failure, or perceived inadequacy.
Our capacity to treat and motivate ourselves with kindness depends on many variables including personal experiences, cultural background, gender, and other sources of intersectionality. In this course, we will explore cultural and familial influences that may become obstacles to accessing the full ranges of benefits of MSC including adapting these practices in a manner that honors your ancestral, cultural legacies and personal legacies.
This course, Mindful Self-Compassion, provides a powerful tool for enhancing emotional well-being. By integrating mindfulness with self-compassion, individuals can develop a healthier relationship with themselves, fostering resilience, emotional regulation, and a sense of common humanity. As research continues to evolve, Mindful Self-Compassion is rapidly becoming a cornerstone in the promotion of mental health and well-being.
Who is this course for?
This course is designed for adults aged 18 who are interested in exploring mindfulness techniques. It offers a structured, practical, and easily accessible introduction suitable for newcomers, those who’ve explored mindfulness apps or books, and even seasoned practitioners.
What is the Weekly Overview of Mindful Self-Compassion?
The Mindful Self-Compassion curriculum presented here serves as a general overview and is subject to potential modifications based on the unique needs, insights, and discussions that may arise during class.
What are the Learning Objectives and Outcomes of Mindfulness Self-Compassion?
- Understand the Theoretical Foundations
- Analyze the origins and theoretical underpinnings of self-compassion in Buddhist traditions and contemporary psychology.
- Define Core Concepts
- Define and differentiate the three core components of self-compassion: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness.
- Review and Understand Empirical Evidence
- Critically evaluate empirical studies on the psychological benefits of self-compassion, including reductions in anxiety, depression, and stress.
- Apply Mindfulness Techniques
- Demonstrate the ability to apply mindfulness techniques to enhance awareness and acceptance of present-moment experiences.
- Develop Self-Compassionate Responses
- Develop strategies to respond to personal suffering, failure, and inadequacy with kindness and understanding rather than self-criticism.
- Explore Mechanisms of Action
- Examine the mechanisms by which self-compassion influences emotional regulation, resilience, and psychological well-being.
- Integrate Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
- Integrate mindfulness practices with self-compassion exercises to cultivate a balanced and compassionate self-awareness.
- Discuss and Understand the Cultural Considerations
- Discuss and understand the cultural variability in the acceptance and practice of self-compassion and explore adaptations for diverse populations.
- Discuss How To Implement MSC in Clinical Settings
- Design interventions incorporating MSC principles for use in clinical settings to support individuals with psychological disorders.
- Measure MSC Outcomes
- Utilize and critically evaluate tools and scales to measure self-compassion and mindfulness in research and practice.
- Address Common Barriers
- Identify and address common barriers to practicing self-compassion, including resistance and misconceptions about self-compassion.
- Learn How This Promotes Well-being
- Apply MSC practices to reduce burnout and compassion fatigue among healthcare professionals and other caregivers.
- Review and Understand a Self-Compassionate Community
- Create initiatives and programs that promote self-compassion within communities to foster collective well-being and resilience.
What is the Science and Research on Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC)?
Empirical studies have consistently demonstrated the benefits of MSC. For instance, a meta-analysis by MacBeth and Gumley (2012) found that self-compassion is significantly associated with lower levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. Moreover, a randomized controlled trial by Neff and Germer (2013) showed that students in an 8-week MSC course experienced significant increases in self-compassion, mindfulness, and well-being, along with reductions in anxiety, depression, and stress. Research in this area hs grown exponentially over the past two decades. There are several thousand research studies exploring self-compassion in different contexts and with different populations around the wolrd. Here is a list of research papers from the past ten years on Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC):
Sources Cited
- Neff, K. D., & Germer, C. K. (2017). Self-Compassion and Psychological Wellbeing. In J. Doty (Ed.), Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science. Oxford University Press. This paper discusses the foundational principles of MSC and its impact on psychological well-being.
- Pommier, E., Neff, K. D., & Tóth-Király, I. (2020). The development and validation of the Compassion Scale. Assessment, 27(1), 21-39. This study presents a new scale for measuring compassion, including self-compassion.
- Rabon, J. K., et al. (2019). Self-Compassion and Suicide Risk in Veterans: When the Going Gets Tough, Do the Tough Benefit More from Self-Compassion? Mindfulness, 10(12), 2544-2554. This paper explores the relationship between self-compassion and suicide risk among veterans.
- Long, P., & Neff, K. D. (2018). Self-compassion is associated with reduced self-presentation concerns and increased student communication behavior. Learning and Individual Differences, 67, 223-231. This research links self-compassion to improved communication behaviors in students.
- Shapiro, S., Siegel, R., & Neff, K. D. (2018). Paradoxes of mindfulness. Mindfulness, 9(6), 1693-1701. This paper examines the complexities and paradoxes inherent in mindfulness practices.
- Neff, K. D., et al. (2018). The forest and the trees: Examining the association of self-compassion and its positive and negative components with psychological functioning. Self and Identity, 17(6), 627-645. This study looks at the positive and negative aspects of self-compassion and their effects on psychological health.
- Yarnell, L. M., et al. (2019). Gender differences in self-compassion: Examining the role of gender role orientation. Mindfulness, 10(6), 1136-1152. This paper investigates how gender and gender roles influence self-compassion.
- McGehee, P., Germer, C., & Neff, K. D. (2017). Core values in Mindful Self-Compassion. In A practitioner’s guide to mindfulness and ethics. Springer. This chapter outlines the core values that underpin MSC practices.
- Neff, K. D. (2016). The Self-Compassion Scale is a valid and theoretically coherent measure of self-compassion. Mindfulness, 7(1), 264-274. This paper validates the Self-Compassion Scale as a reliable measure.
- Neff, K. D., & Seppala, E. (2016). Compassion, Well-Being, and the Hypoegoic Self. This paper delves into how self-compassion contributes to overall well-being by reducing egoic tendencies.
- Richelle Lyon, T., & Galbraith, A. (2023). Mindful Self-Compassion as an Antidote to Burnout for Mental Health Practitioners. Healthcare, 11(20), 2715. This study explores the effectiveness of MSC in reducing burnout among mental health practitioners.
- Eriksson, T., Germundsjö, L., Åström, E., & Rönnlund, M. (2018). Mindful Self-Compassion Training Reduces Stress and Burnout Symptoms Among Practicing Psychologists: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Brief Web-Based Intervention. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2340. This research examines a web-based MSC intervention for psychologists.
- Neff, K. D. (2019). Setting the record straight about the Self-Compassion Scale. Mindfulness, 10(1), 200-202. This article addresses misconceptions about the Self-Compassion Scale.
- Warren, R., Smeets, E., & Neff, K. D. (2016). Self-criticism and self-compassion: Risk and resilience for psychopathology. Current Psychiatry, 15(12), 18-32. This paper examines the roles of self-criticism and self-compassion in mental health.Neff, K. D. (2016). Does self-compassion entail reduced self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification? A response to Muris, Otgaar, and Petrocchi (2016). Mindfulness, 7(3), 791-797. This response addresses critiques of the self-compassion construct.
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